HTJ is in the process of moving. I will keep you posted!

Check here to see the new place:
www.hereandtherejapan.edublogs.org

Sakura Leaves in November

Halloween Report

Parties and parades are this weekend. Candy displays are small or non-existent in stores here. Anything Halloween is already sold out in our neighborhood grocery store.

Check out HTJ Halloween posts by clicking on the labels below.

Serious Sweepers Or Halloween Broom Parking?

Kenyan Roses in Japan

 A former student is importing roses from Kenya to Japan. They are gorgeous! Thick petals and stems and they smell like roses used to smell!

Some of What is Left Behind

Seems the farmer let the crows have it. The corn, that is.

Standing Again

 The typhoon on June 19th flattened the corn.
.

 Almost uprooted it.

Two days after being knocked down, the corn is almost standing up straight again. (The crows didn't bother this corn field. Maybe they didn't want to pick on something beaten down to the ground.)

These photos were taken with a Panasonic Lumix 10x.

Crow Update

The crows have lost their breakfast, lunch, and dinner spot.

Unfortunately, crows are noisy and the fruit tree was messy.

They still gather. Can you see why?

Corn fields. They've done a lot of damage.

Let's see if this works.

These photos were taken with a Panasonic Lumix 10x.

recent posts about the recent neighborhood crow situation:
Gathering Before the Storm

Gathering After the Storm

Today's Setting Sun

 Gorgeous sunset out there. No crows, though. And no bats. Something on the horizon?

The Morning After the Typhoon

 Mt. Fuji looked like this.

I could see the damage to the corn from the roof. This is ground zero.

The corn looked like this before the typhoon.

Yesterday, the zucchini in another farmer's field was curved.

Today, it's twisted.

His corn is a little bent, but still standing.

Our vegetable stand is open today.

Cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, carrots and onions made it to the shelves. Bags of edamame, too. Some of their stalks were flattened and muddied.

A little more damage in the next post.

These photos were taken with a Panasonic Lumix 10x.

A Little Typhoon Damage

The tree farm suffered the most. This is only half of the damage.

One of those "disposable" umbrellas in satsuma imo, taro.

Two at the foot of a mailbox.

This shop expected more water.

Up under the shop's awning, Mrs. Starling is safe at home.

These photos were taken with a Panasonic Lumix 10x.

Gathering After the Typhoon

Crows gathered here again. About 40. Fluffing and drying their feathers at 5:30 A.M. And...

Gathering and

eating their breakfast

from this tree.

Soaring

and watching me.

Gathering Before the Typhoon

Clouds gathered and so did crows! These photos make a panoramic view of our neighborhood at 5:30 P.M. Look closely. Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Crows! I see 14 in this photo. One was sitting on the balcony but flew away.

Crows!

Crows!

Crow!

It was raining a lot. They sat in the rain and traded places once in a while. I wouldn't say they were playing. They looked pretty miserable.

These photos were taken with a Panasonic Lumix 10x.

Outside a Shop that Sells Glasses

This is a well-established chain of shops. It's been in Japan for a long time.

These are current photos. The mascot for the shop is holding a sign that says, "Ganbarou Japan! Hang in there, Japan!"

Japan is still recovering from last year's tsunami and earthquake.

Here is a place outside the shop to stop to clean your glasses. It's a free service.

The name of the shop "Megane Drug" is on the right panel of the sign and "one year guarantee" is on the left panel. Megane is "eyeglasses" in Japanese.

Here is a link to a post about the eye chart used here.

These photos were taken with a Panasonic Lumix 10x.

The Beetles at Toys R Us Japan

Many department stores sell beetles. This is the beetle display at Toys R Us. These photos were taken with an iphone. Click on them to enlarge them.

This shows some of the items that are needed for the beetles.

This beetle has a plastic cup of yellow jelly to eat.

The pink plastic thing in this case is to hold a cup of jelly. Some of the holders are made out of wood.

Nets (on left) for catching bugs, insects and beetles are sold, too.

There was also an ant farm (upper left hand corner.)

These photos were taken with an iphone.